There are roughly three hundred Master Sommeliers in the world, and one of them runs a neighbourhood wine bar in Dogpatch. Ungrafted was opened by Rebecca Fineman, who holds the Master Sommelier title, and her partner Chris Gaither, an Advanced Sommelier, and it is simultaneously a restaurant, a wine bar and a retail shop. That combination of credentials and format is genuinely unusual: the depth of knowledge you would normally have to pay three-star prices to access is here in a room where you can also buy a bottle to take home. If you want a wine tasting in San Francisco that is actually an education, this is the address.
A Master Sommelier behind the bar is worth asking questions of. Ask Karpo how to approach a tasting at Ungrafted and what to ask for when you are there.
Who is behind the bar, and why it matters
Rebecca Fineman is a Master Sommelier; Chris Gaither is an Advanced Sommelier. The Master Sommelier examination is one of the hardest professional qualifications in any field, with a pass rate that keeps the global total in the low hundreds.
The practical consequence is not a more expensive list. It is that the person guiding you has a structural understanding of wine rather than a set of favourites, and can answer a vague question — what should I drink, I like this and not that — with something precise.
Use that. The single biggest mistake at a room like this is ordering by reading the list. Describe what you like and hand the decision over; that is the service you are actually there for.
Three businesses at one address
Ungrafted is a wine bar, a restaurant and a retail wine shop. Those are three different reasons to come and they do not require the same visit.
The retail side means you can taste something and buy it, which collapses the usual gap between the interesting glass you had out and the bottle you can find later. It is the most useful feature of the format.
The restaurant side means the food is designed to sit alongside the wine rather than to soak it up. That is a different proposition from a wine bar with a cheese plate, and it makes a longer visit worthwhile.
How to book it
Reservations open about a month ahead. For a small neighbourhood room with this profile, that window fills, particularly at weekends.
A weeknight is easier and better. The staff have more time, and time is the resource you actually want here.
If the calendar is closed, it is worth asking about walk-in seats at the bar. In a room of this size the bar is where the conversation happens anyway.
What to ask for
Ask for a flight rather than a glass on a first visit. A comparison teaches you something a single pour cannot, and it is the fastest way to work out what you actually like.
Ask about the less obvious regions. A list assembled by sommeliers of this level will have things on it chosen because they are interesting rather than because they sell, and those are the pours worth the trip.
Ask what to buy on the way out. The retail arm means the answer is available immediately, and the price is a shop price rather than a restaurant markup.
Dogpatch, and getting there
Dogpatch is a former industrial pocket on the eastern side of the city, south of Mission Bay, and it has become one of the better-eating neighbourhoods in San Francisco without becoming a destination district.
The T Third Street line runs through it and there is a Caltrain connection nearby, which makes it more accessible on public transport than its industrial character suggests.
It is quiet in the evenings, which is part of the appeal. An evening here is dinner and wine rather than dinner and wine and then somewhere else.
Practical notes
Ungrafted is in Dogpatch, San Francisco. Founded by Master Sommelier Rebecca Fineman and Advanced Sommelier Chris Gaither.
It operates as a wine bar, a restaurant and a retail wine shop at the same address, so bottles tasted on site can be bought to take away.
Reservations are released roughly one month in advance. Weeknights are easier to book and better for conversation with the staff.
Tags: #SanFrancisco #Dogpatch #Ungrafted #WineTastingNearMe #MasterSommelier #WineBar #WineShop #SFWine #TastingFlight #SFEats #CreativeWorkshops #Sommelier
Please drink responsibly. Must be of legal drinking age.
All trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Ask Karpo first
Ask Karpo what flight to start with at Ungrafted, whether there are reservations left for the night you want, and what else in Dogpatch is worth eating before or after.
